White supremists on the march

Gone are the shaved heads and brown Nazi uniforms.  Swastikas are being replaced and social networking sites developed to cater to the new white supremacy movement. 

Supremacist groups are on the rise as they market themselves to middle America, according to leaders of the groups and organizations that monitor them. They are fueled by the debate over illegal immigration and a struggling economy.

"Many white supremacist groups are going more mainstream," says Jack Levin, a Northeastern University criminologist who studies hate crime. "They are eliminating the sheets and armbands. … The groups realize if they want to be attractive to middle-class types, they need to look middle-class."

"Historically, when times get tough in our nation, that's how movements like ours gain a foothold," (Jeff Schoep, head of the National Socialist Movement) says. "When the economy suffers, people are looking for answers. … We are the answer for white people.

"And now this immigrant thing in the past couple of years has been the biggest boon to us," Schoep says. "The immigration issue is the biggest problem we're facing because it's changing the face of our country. We see stuff in English and Spanish. … They are turning our country into a Third World ghetto."

"It appears they are tapping into and fanning the flames of mainstream America's fear of immigrants," says Ann Van Dyke of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. "They are increasingly using the language of Main Street, things like, 'We want safe communities to raise our children.' " (Link)

They're going to have lots to talk about at the clubhouse.  From the last census:

-  Non-Hispanic whites, who are two-thirds of the population today, are older, dying off faster and producing fewer children than other groups, Vincent said. By 2050, they'll number 203 million in a nation of 439 million.

-  Hispanics are projected to triple by 2050, when they'll be nearly a third (133 million) of the population. Spurring Hispanic growth is the group's large natural increase — birth rate minus death rate — which Vincent attributed mainly to its youth and fertility. Immigration is an important but lesser factor, she said.

-  The black population is projected to increase by just 1 percentage point, from 14 percent this year to 15 percent (66 million) in 2050. At that point, Hispanics will outnumber blacks by two to one, the report said.

-  The Asian population will grow from 5 to 9 percent of the population (41 million) by 2050, according to the projections.

-  American Indians and Alaska Natives are projected to rise from1.6 percent to 2 percent (9 million) of the population.

The same report indicated less than half the children in the U.S. will be non-Hispanic whites by 2023.